Present invention relates to a print processing method and apparatus for obtaining a desired print result by instructing page control operation in a system, inclusive of a printer having a function to print, in page unit, and a data processing apparatus, e.g., a personal computer or the like, connected to the printer. The present invention also relates to a storage medium storing program codes readable by a data processing apparatus.
Among conventional print processing, a well-known method is to preview a layout of output contents of a print page by a data processing apparatus utilizing application software having a print-preview function as a method to confirm outline of output contents of the print page. Such conventional print processing is adopted by the system including a printer having a function to print, in page unit, and a data processing apparatus, e.g., a personal computer or the like, connected to the printer.
Furthermore, another known method of page layout printing for confirming outline of output contents of a print page is to reduce the size of a plurality of pages (N pages) so as to be laid out in one page (a sheet of print paper). When printing in page-layout mode is designated, a printer-control-command generating program (printer driver) generates a printer control command (print data) for N pages of print data to be outputted in a sheet of print paper, and the generated data is transmitted to the printer.
However, in a case where the application software does not include the aforementioned print-preview function, the above method cannot be used. In that case, the outline of output contents of an entire page cannot be determined. Furthermore, when an operator instructs printing in page-layout mode to confirm the outline of output contents of the print page in actual print operation, the printer-control-command generating program (printer driver) generates the printer control command (print data) for the entire N pages of print information for outputting a sheet of print paper and the generated data is transmitted to the printer. As a result, a large amount of time is required for printing.
The present invention is made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide a print processing method and apparatus, and a storage medium storing program codes readable by a data processing apparatus, for printing an outline of output contents of an entire page in page-layout printing operation by replacing a character in document data with a predetermined character, replacing an image in document data with a rectangular graphic including the image, or replacing a group of graphic data in the document data with a rectangular graphic, whereby reducing the amount of output data, thus reducing printing time.
To attain the above object, the present invention has the following construction.
More specifically, a print processing method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a print mode designating step of designating a print mode; a print designating step of designating print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus based on instruction of print execution; a page control determining step of determining whether or not page control is to be performed in accordance with the designated print mode; an intermediate data generating step of generating intermediate data from the print data for performing page control based on a determination result of said page control determining step; a storing step of storing the generated intermediate data; a page data recording step of recording page data corresponding to the intermediate data; an intermediate data editing step of editing the stored intermediate data in accordance with the designated print mode; an intermediate data replacing step of replacing the stored intermediate data; an intermediate data outputting step of outputting intermediate data edited in said intermediate data replacing step; a print data generating step of generating final print data based on the outputted intermediate data and the page data corresponding to the intermediate data; and a print data outputting step of outputting the generated final print data.
Furthermore, print processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: print mode designating means for designating a print mode; print designating means for designating print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus based on instruction of print execution; page control determining means for determining whether or not page control is to be performed in accordance with the designated print mode; intermediate data generating means for generating intermediate data from the print data for performing page control based on a determination result of said page control determining means; storing means for storing the generated intermediate data; page data recording means for recording page data corresponding to the intermediate data; intermediate data editing step of editing the stored intermediate data in accordance with the designated print mode; intermediate data replacing means for replacing the stored intermediate data; intermediate data outputting means for outputting intermediate data edited by said intermediate data replacing means; print data generating means for generating final print data based on the outputted intermediate data and the page data corresponding to the intermediate data; and print data outputting means for outputting the generated final print data.
Still further, a computer readable storage medium according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: program steps of print mode designating means for designating a print mode; program steps of print designating means for designating print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus based on instruction of print execution; program steps of page control determining means for determining whether or not page control is to be performed in accordance with the designated print mode; program steps of intermediate data generating means for generating intermediate data from the print data for performing page control based on a determination result of said page control determining means; program steps of storing means for storing the generated intermediate data; program steps of page data recording means for recording page data corresponding to the intermediate data; program steps of intermediate data editing step of editing the stored intermediate data in accordance with the designated print mode; program steps of intermediate data replacing means for replacing the stored intermediate data; program steps of intermediate data outputting means for outputting intermediate data edited by said intermediate data replacing means; program steps of print data generating means for generating final print data based on the outputted intermediate data and the page data corresponding to the intermediate data; and program steps of print data outputting means for outputting the generated final print data.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, a plurality of pages are reduced to be laid out in one page in said intermediate data editing step.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, if the intermediate data is a character print command, the character code is replaced with a predetermined character code in said intermediate data replacing step.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, if the intermediate data is an image rendering command, the image rendering command is replaced with a rectangular rendering command in said intermediate data replacing step.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, if the intermediate data is a graphic rendering command, the graphic rendering command is replaced with a rectangular rendering command in said intermediate data replacing step.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, the print mode designation and the print execution instruction are performed by a keyboard.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing method, the print mode designation and the print execution instruction are performed by a pointing device.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, said intermediate data editing means reduces a plurality of pages to be laid out in one page.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, said intermediate data replacing means replaces a character code with a predetermined character code if the intermediate data is a character print command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, said intermediate data replacing means replaces an image rendering command with a rectangular rendering command if the intermediate data is an image rendering command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, said intermediate data replacing means replaces a graphic rendering command with a rectangular rendering command if the intermediate data is a graphic rendering command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, the print mode designation and the print execution instruction are performed by a keyboard.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned print processing apparatus, the print mode designation and the print execution instruction are performed by a pointing device.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for causing said intermediate data editing means to reduce a plurality of pages to be laid out in one page.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for causing said intermediate data replacing means to replace a character code with a predetermined character code if the intermediate data is a character print command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for causing said intermediate data replacing means to replace an image rendering command with a rectangular rendering command if the intermediate data is an image rendering command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for causing said intermediate data replacing means to replace a graphic rendering command with a rectangular rendering command if the intermediate data is a graphic rendering command.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for designating and instructing a data processing apparatus to execute the print mode and print execution designated by a keyboard.
According to an aspect of the aforementioned storage medium, the storage medium further comprises a program for designating and instructing a data processing apparatus to execute the print mode and print execution designated by a pointing device.
Other objects and advantages besides those discussed above shall be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follows the description for determining the scope of the invention.